Guy Pearce and Evan Rachel Wood have been added to cast of Todd Hayne’s five-hour HBO mini-series adaptation of the 1945 noir-ish melodrama, “Mildred Pierce.”
Led by Kate Winslet, the project will reportedly stay more faithful to James M. Cain’s novel of the same name compared to Michael Curtiz’s 1945 film version which starred Joan Crawford. It’s not known what roles Pearce and Wood will play but they’d be perfect as Winslet’s husband and daughter. Either way, it’s great to see the under-appreciated talents of both actors being recognized by Haynes.
The story centers on a woman who strives to maintain her family’s middle-class lifestyle in the midst of the Great Depression. When her unemployed husband is unable to provide, she separates from him, and with their children in tow, strikes out on their own. While Mildred achieves great financial success in the restaurant business, her relationship with her eldest daughter, Veda, becomes strained when she takes for granted the status they’ve attained.
Haynes is just one of a number great filmmakers who have been brought onto HBO projects this season. The likes of Kathryn Bigelow, Michael Mann, Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Demme are all helming upcoming pilots for the network while David Fincher, Charlize Theron, Simon Beaufoy, Russell Crowe and Zooey Deschanel all have producing interests.
Shooting for “Mildred Pierce” will take place in New York this April through to June. Someone get us on the set of this. We’d kill to visit.